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Suspect in Paris attack fought for al-Qaida in Yemen

This photo provided by The Paris Police Prefecture Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015 shows the suspect Said Kouachi in the newspaper attack along with a plea for witnesses. A senior Yemeni official said Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 that Said Kouachi, a suspect in the attack on the French newspaper, is suspected of fighting in Yemen for al-Qaida.(AP Photo/Prefecture de Police de Paris)
This photo provided by The Paris Police Prefecture Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015 shows the suspect Said Kouachi in the newspaper attack along with a plea for witnesses. A senior Yemeni official said Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 that Said Kouachi, a suspect in the attack on the French newspaper, is suspected of fighting in Yemen for al-Qaida.(AP Photo/Prefecture de Police de Paris) This photo provided by The Paris Police Prefecture Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015 shows the suspect Said Kouachi in the newspaper attack along with a plea for witnesses. A senior Yemeni official said Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 that Said Kouachi, a suspect in the attack on the French newspaper, is suspected of fighting in Yemen for al-Qaida.(AP Photo/Prefecture de Police de Paris)

By Associated Press 3 min read

SANAA, Yemen (AP) – Yemeni authorities suspect that Said Kouachi, one of the brothers involved in the deadly attack on a Paris newspaper, fought for al-Qaida in Yemen at the height of the group’s offensive in the country’s south, a security official said Friday.

Another senior security official said Kouachi was in Yemen until 2012. Both officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of an ongoing investigation into Kouachi’s stay in Yemen.

Earlier, a U.S. official had said the 34-year-old Said visited Yemen, although he did not say when he was there or if he joined extremist groups such as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, as the Yemeni branch is known.

Witnesses to the assault at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris said Said claimed allegiance to the Yemeni group during the attack. His 32-year-old brother, Cherif Kouachi, was convicted of terrorism charges in 2008 for ties to a network sending jihadis to fight U.S. forces in Iraq.

In Yemen, al-Qaida fighters took advantage of a security vacuum in 2011 during a popular Arab Spring uprising that ousted the country’s longtime leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The militants at the time seized large swaths of territory in the volatile and rugged south of the country, overrunning several towns and cities.